Coat hanger cover



May 8, 1962 c. c. ZlN-TEL COAT HANGER COVER Filed July 29, 1959INVENTOR. C4 HRf/YCE C. ZHYTEL/ BY 1 M! 4% flrroe/z Eys.

United States Patent 3,033,430 COAT HANGER COVER Clarence C. Zintel,4451 Central Ave, Indianapolis, Ind. Filed July 29, 1959, Ser. No.839,330 3 Claims. (Cl. 223-98) This invention relates to a cover for aconventional wire type coat hanger, and more particularly to a hangercover having an improved locking means for holding it on such hangers.

It is an object of my invention to provide an inexpensive coat hangercover which is easily attachable to a coat hanger, which can bereleasably locked in fixed position on said coat hanger, and which willafiford rounded support for garments hung on said cover.

In accordance with my invention, there is provided a triangularly shapedblank of cardboard or like stifi sheet material foldable over thedownwardly diverging arms of a coat hanger along diverging score lines.The cover provides for the upper section of the hanger a covering havinga rounded surface for supporting a garment without forming creasestherein along the lines of support. There is further provided on saidcover a slot and tongue insertable therein for locking the blank on thehanger. Adjacent said slot and tongue is a flap adapted to be foldedinto a position to engage the hanger at the interconnection between thediverging hanger arms and the hook supporting said arms to releasablylock the cover in a fixed position on said hanger.

The accompanying drawing illustrates my invention. In such drawing:

FIG. 1 is a front elevation of a coat hanger with a cover in accordancewith my invention secured thereon;

FIG. 2 is a plan view of the blank for forming the cover shown in FIG.1;

FIG. 3 shows a conventional coat hanger placed on the cover blank forfolding and securing the latter over said hanger;

FIG. 4 is a rear elevation of a coat hanger and the coverv securedthereon with portions of said cover being broken away to show my novelmethod of holding the cover on said hanger; and

FIG. 5 is an enlarged sectional view taken on the line 5-5 of FIG. 4.

As shown in the drawing, my cover is adapted to be secured to aconventional wire type coat hanger having a pair of diverging armsinterconnected at their lower ends by a transversely extending strut 12.The upper ends of the arms 10 are bent to form a crotch 18 integral withthe twisted shank 14 of the hanger-supporting hook 16.

As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, my cover 20 adapted to fit over such a hangercomprises a triangularly shaped blank of cardboard or like stiltfoldable material consisting of front wall panels 22 and 24, and a rearwall panel 26. The two front wall panels are distinguished from the rearwall panel by a pair of diverging score lines 28. A plurality ofauxiliary score lines 30 may be disposed on either side of the scorelines 28 to distribute the bending and provide a rounded surface ofsuspension for garments hung on such cover. It may be further desired toterminate the score lines 28 and 30 short of the outer corners of thecover 20, as at score lines 32, whereby the score lines 32 formshoulder-supporting end flaps 33 which may be bent upwardly forsupporting strap-supported garments The ends of the front panels 22 and24 adjacent the apex of the triangularly shaped blank are separated byan inwardly extending cut 36 terminating in an aperture 38.Conveniently, each of the front wall panels 22 and 24 is separated fromthe rear wall panel 26 adjacent the aperture 38 by serrated slits 40formed along the score lines '28. As shown in FIG. 2, the front wallpanel 22 is provided with a hooked tongue 42 receivable in a slot 44formed in the front wall panel 24. Thus, to apply the cover 20 to aconventional wire type coat hanger as shown in FIGS. 1 and 4, the hangeris placed on the blank 20 with the shank 14 of the hanger hook 16disposed over the inwardly extending cut 36, and the flaps 22 and 24 arefolded over the diverging hanger arms 10 along the score lines 28. Thetwo flaps circumscribing the shank 14 of the hook 16 'are' lockedtogether by inserting the hooked tongue 42 of the panel 22 into the slot44 on the panel 24, thereby securing the cover on the hanger, as isshown in FIG. 1. The cover 20 thus rests on the hanger along the scorelines 28 and supplemental score lines 30, with said score linesdistributing the bending or folding of the stiff foidable material toform an are or suspension for a coat or a similar garment hung on thecover.

Although the tongue 42 and slot 44 serve to hold the cover 29 on thehanger, the cover and hanger are still movable with respect to eachother as by the shank 14 of the hanger hook sliding in the aperture 38of the cover. In order to prevent such relative movement between thehanger and the cover and thereby hold said cover in a fixed position onthe hanger, I provide a flap 46 at the upper end of the front wall panel24. As shown in FIG. 2, the edges of the fiap 46 are defined by theinwardly extending cut 36, the aperture 38, and an inwardly extendingscore line 48 disposed at an acute angle to the out 36. To position theflap 46 in operative position for holding the cover 20 in a fixedposition on the hanger, the cover 20 is secured on the hanger in themanner previously described with the front wall panels 22 and 24 beinglocked together by the tongue and slot 42 and 44, and with a hanger book16 extending upwardly through the aperture 38. With the cover componentsthus posi.

tioned, the iflap 46 lies against the inner face of the front panel 22.In order to move the flap 46 into operative position, it is bentinwardly along the score line 48 until it lies substantially normal tothe front Wall panel 24 with the edge of the flap 46 defined by theaperture 38 being disposed against the hanger crotch 18 at the base ofthe hook shank 14. In this position, the cover 20 is prevented fromraising upwardly from the hanger by the upper edge of the flap 46engaging the base of the hook shank 14. When the cover'2t) is thusmounted on the hanger, the serrated slits 40 will be disposed inengagement with the crotch 18 to act in combination with the flap '46 tofurther assist in preventing any relative movement between the cover 20and the hanger. In most hanger constructions, the crotch 18 constitutesa pair of lengths of wire diverging at an acute angle, and with the flap46 being disposed between these two lengths of wire, the cover 20 isalso prevented from twisting around the hook 16.

I claim as my invention:

1. A cover for a coat hanger having a pair of downward sloping armsWhose upper ends from a crotch at the base of a hook supporting saidarms, comprising a generally triangular sheet'of stifi foldable materialprovided with a central aperture for engagement about said hook base,said sheet being foldable along downwardly divergent score linesseparating said sheet into a rear wall and two panels adapted to form afront wall, said two panels being separated at the apex of the sheet bya cut running from said aperture to the edge of the sheet, one of saidpanels having a slot and the other panel having a tongue receivable insaid slot for locking the panels together to form the front wall, saidout between the panels being offset from the center line of the sheet toleave at the central edge of one panel a flap extending across saidcenter line, a fold line separating said flap from the panel to which itis attached and offset from said center line in the opposite directionfrom said cut, said flap 3 being adapted to be folded inward from thefront wall to extend substantially toward said rear wall and beingformed so that in said inward-folded position it has an upper edge toengage under the crotch of a coat hanger for holding the cover inposition on the hanger.

2. A coat hanger cover as defined in claim 1 in which the intersectionof said panel-separating cut and the edge of said aperture forms ahook-shaped corner on said flap to engage under the crotch of thehanger.

3. A coat hanger cover as defined in claim 1 in which said sheetadjacent said aperture is provided with slits extending from saidaperture outward along the down- Wardly divergent score lines andtogether with said aperture forming an opening along the intersection ofthe front and rear Walls in opposite directions from said flap andlonger than the width of the hanger hook.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS2,147,590 Adkins Feb. 14, 1939 2,218,150 Jentz Oct. 15, 1940 2,241,697Berke May 13, 1941 2,578,383 Tornarin Dec. 11, 1951 2,873,054 ZintelFeb. 10, 1959 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE CERTIFICATE OF CORRECTIONPatent No. 3,033,430 May 8, 1962 Clarence C. Zintel It is herebycertified that error appears in the above numbered patent req'liringcorrection and that the said Letters Patent should read as correctedbelow.

Column 2, line 56, for "from" read for-m Signed and sealed this 11th dayof September 1962.

(SEAL) Attest:

ERNEST w. SWlDER DAVID LAD!) Attesting Officer Commissioner of Patents

